A Vision for Change: Speeches and Writings of AD Patel, 1929-1969

400 Pages·2011·1.652 MB·English

by  Brij V Lal

A Vision Change

for
Speeches and Writings of AD Patel, 1929-1969

A Vision Change

for
Speeches and Writings of AD Patel, 1929-1969
edited by
Brij V Lal
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
E PRESS
E PRESS
Published by ANU E Press
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Lal, Brij V.
Title: A vision for change : speeches and writings of AD Patel, 1929-1969 / Brij V Lal.
ISBN: 9781921862328 (pbk.) 9781921862335 (ebook)
Subjects: Patel, A. D. (Ambalal Dahyabhai), 1905-1969.
Fiji--Politics and government--20th century.
Fiji--History.
Dewey Number: 320.099611
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or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
Cover design and layout by ANU E Press
Cover photograph by Robert Norton.
Printed by Griffin Press
This edition © 2011 ANU E Press
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Part I. Quest for Equality: The Political Struggle
1: Address to the 1965 London Constitutional Conference, 26 July 1965 . . 1
2: Suva Town Hall Resolutions at a Public Meeting of Indians,
30 November, 1929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3: Common Roll Conference with Sir Murchison Fletcher,
27 December 1929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4: Memorandum to Governor, 28 December 1929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5: Governor to Secretary of State, 2 January 1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6: Memorandum to the Governor, 5 March 1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7: A Delegation to the Governor, May 1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8: Opposition to Nomination over Election, 19 May 1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9: Conundrums of Colonial Legislature, 21 December 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10: Deed of Cession Debate, 16 July 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
11: In Defense of Democracy, 2 September 1948 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
12: On Separate Representation for Muslims, 9 December 1949 . . . . . . . 30
13: Wanted: A Common Electoral Roll, 16 August 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
14: Last But Not Long!, 1 February 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
15: An Astounding Statement, 3 March 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
16: A Constitutional Mirage, 13 April 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
17: Welcome to Sir Derek Jakeway, 24 February 1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
18: Protest Letter to Sir Derek Jakeway, 24 January 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . 40
19: Public Notice (Undated, 1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
20: Memorandum to Sir Derek Jakeway, 26 January 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . 43
21: Resolutions passed at the AGM of the Federation Party at
Lautoka, 25 April 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
22: Letter to Sir Derek Jakeway, 30 April, 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
23: Sir Derek Jakeway to Patel, 6 May 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
24: Memorandum to Unofficial Members of the Legislative
Council, April 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
25: Member of Social Services Office Notes, Pre-1965
constitutional conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
v
26: Opening Address to the 1965 Constitutional Conference,
26 July 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
27: Interview with Malcolm Billings, BBC, 31 July, 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
28: The Indian Delegation’s Press Conference, 10 August 1965 . . . . . . . 56
29: Letter to Anthony Greenwood, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, 12 August 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
30: Post-1965 Constitutional Conference: Century Theatre, August 1965 . . 63
31: Response from Anthony Greenwood, 9 September 1965 . . . . . . . . . . 67
32: Debate on London Constitutional Conference, 15 December 1965 . . . 68
33: Federation Party Letter to A .D . Patel, 6 August, 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
34: The Secretariat to AD Patel, 23 September 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
35: Launch of the 1966 Election campaign, Century Theatre, July 1966 . . . 82
36: Political Address, Sigatoka Valley, 25 September 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . 90
37: Call for a new Constitutional Conference, 1 September 1967 . . . . . . . 97
38: Federation Party Convention, Ba, 28-29 June, 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
39: Political Statement by A . D . Patel, 30 August 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
40: Final Letter from Sir Derek Jakeway, 7 November 1968 . . . . . . . . . 112
41: Pre-Independence Talks, Suva, 12 August 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Part II. Bitter Sweet: The Politics of the Fiji Sugar
Industry, 1943-1969
The 1943 Strike: Contemporary Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
42: An Open Letter to Governor,12 August 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
43: The Statement Made By A .D . Patel in Nadi Court, 12 August 1943 . . 124
44: Report of the Commission: Letter to Governor, 12th August 1943 . . 125
45: What Happened in Suva? 21-26 August 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
46: Growers Advised to Cut, nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
47: Inaccuracies and Omissions in the Council Paper: ‘Dispute
in the Sugar Industry’,1 September 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
48: Can You Blame the Growers? 6 September 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
49: Letter to Colonial Secretary, 20 September, 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
50: Telegram to Secretary of State for Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
51: Negotiations 26 December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
52: Ratu Sukuna to AD Patel, 28 December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
53: AD Patel to Ratu Sukuna, 28 December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
54: Ratu Sukuna to AD Patel, 29 December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
55: AD Patel to Ratu Sukuna, 30 December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
56: Ratu Sukuna to AD Patel, 31December 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
vi 57: Ratu Sukuna to AD Patel, 2 January 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
58: AD Patel to Ratu Sukuna, 3 January 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
59: Ratu Sukuna to AD Patel, 4 January 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
60: Reforming the Sugar Industry, 21 December 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
61: A Commission at Gunpoint? 6 June 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
62: A Drive for Disunity, 30 June 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
63: Negotiations and a Plan for the Future, 7 July 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
64: Memorandum to Mr . Julian Amery, 14 October 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . 175
65: Submission to the Eve Commission, 9 March 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
66: Reforming the Sugar Industry, 2 May 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
67: Ending Eve's Legacy, 12 May 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
68: The Denning Arbitration, 19th August 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
Part III. Land and Livelihood
69: All-Fiji Indian Conference, 30 October 1938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
70: Economic Condition of Indians in Fiji Paper read at the
All-Fiji Indian Conference by AD Patel, 30 October 1938 . . . . . . . . 232
71: The Misadministration of Land, 20 August, 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
72: Post-War Agricultural Development, 20 February 1946 . . . . . . . . . . 240
73: Delay Is Dangerous, 3 September 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
74: Their Darkest Hour, 17 September 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
75: A Sop to Evictees, 15 October 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
76: Adding Insult to Injury, 26 November 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
77: Diversification of Agricultural Production, 4 November 1956 . . . . . . 253
78: Fruit Industry, 31 May 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
79: Diet and its Effect, 3 August 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
80: Fiji’s Growing Pains, 17 December 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
81: The Medicine, 7 March 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
82: Landlord and Tenant Bill, 20 July 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
83: Nationalizing the Gold Mining Industry, 31 January 1968 . . . . . . . . 271
84: Agriculture Landlord & Tenant Ordinance, 30 January 1969 . . . . . . 278
85: Letter from Justin Lewis QC to AD Patel, 15 September 1969 . . . . . 281
Part IV. Society and Culture
86: Swami Avinasananda to AD Patel, 15 October 1937 . . . . . . . . . . . 283
87: Letter to Swami Avinasananda, 30 September 1939 . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
88: Sangam Registration, 3 November 1937 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
89: Letter to Governor Sir Harry Luke, nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
90: Sangam's Petition to the Governor, 12 December 1947 . . . . . . . . . 288
91: To Drink or Not to Drink, 25 November 1947 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292 vii
To Drink or Not to Drink, II (1969) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
92: Ring in the Saints, 6 January 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
93: The ‘Flowers’ of Fiji, 20 June 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
94: Welcome, Mr . Dugdale, 4 August 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
95: The Indian Problem in Fiji, 8 August 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
96: Ramakrishna Mission in Fiji, 28 September 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
97: Fragments of a Diary 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
98: Divide and Rule, 15 December 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
99: Fijians and Fijians, 29 January 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
100:Segregation Stands Condemned, 11June1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
101: A Bogey Laid, 30 July 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
102: With Malice Aforethought, 2 September 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
103: Why Access to Books? 23 September 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
104: First Things Last? 14 October 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
105: A University College for the South Pacific, 26 April 1956 . . . . . . . . . 325
106: Invite the United Nations, 2 August 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
107: On Sadhu Kuppuswami, 9 August 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
108: Budgeting for Educational Progress, 6 December 1956 . . . . . . . . . 329
109: Library Service for Fiji, 29 August 1957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
110: Progress & Custom, 7 November 1957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
111: The Great Irony, 2 July 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .34
112: Address to the Fiji Teachers Union, 9 September 1964 . . . . . . . . . 336
113: Social Security in Fiji, 26 March 1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
114: Address to the Fijian Teachers Association, 4 May 1965 . . . . . . . . 341
115: Capital Punishment: Letter from Church Leaders, 12 May 1966 . . . 344
116: On the Abolition of Capital Punishment, 26 May 1966 . . . . . . . . . . 346
117:Why I support Family Planning, 17 August 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
118: The University of the South Pacific, 21 March 1967 . . . . . . . . . . . 353
119: A Common Name, 1 August 1967, Interpretation Bill . . . . . . . . . . 359
120: Letter to Vasantika Patel from Ocean Island, 1 November 1967 . . . 360
121: Out of Many Races—One Nation, Nadi Jaycees, 1968 . . . . . . . . . 362
122: Bau—Renovation, 13th December 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
123: New Year's Greetings, 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
124: Hail Deliverer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
viii
Acknowledgments
For their support and kindness over the years, I thank the family of AD Patel,
in particular the late Mrs Leela Patel. The National Library of Australia helped
me get access to Fiji newspapers and the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau provided
additional assistance, thanks to Ewan Maidment and Kylie Moloney. The National
Archives of Fiji has my deep gratitude for all the help they have given me over
nearly thirty years. Bob Norton was, as always, generous in sharing his own
research material and experience of working on Fiji since the 1960s. Kamal Iyer
and Jagindar Singh have given unstinted support to my efforts to understand
the complex dynamics of Indo-Fijian politics over the years. ‘Bade Bhai’ Harish
Sharma read a draft of the manuscript, picked up typos and made many helpful
suggestions, as did Jack Corbett of my own Department. Doug Munro and Robert
Norton made many helpful suggestions for revising the Introduction. Maxine
McArthur prepared the manuscript for publication with exemplary patience
and care. Padma has been my indispensible Rock of Gibraltar for this project
and for everything else I have done in my professional life. My Department of
Pacific and Asian History has my gratitude for giving me the time and space
to complete this work. I am eternally grateful to whatever quirk of fate which
brought me to The Australian National University. For research and reflection,
there is no other place in the world quite like it.
Brij V Lal
Canberra
ix